Karachi: Police arrest four suspects in crackdown on street criminals

KARACHI: In a crackdown against street criminals, police arrested four suspects during various raids in different parts of the city late Friday night, police said.

Two alleged burglars affiliated to Taala Torr group were arrested in a pre-dawn raid, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar said.

He said both men have been involved in scores of burglaries and other street crimes. The senior police officer also claimed to have recovered cutters and lock-breaking tools from their possession.

However, no details were shared with regard to their identification.

Separately, two other suspects were arrested in another raid of the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in New Karachi.

The security personnel recovered weapons from their possession. The identities of the suspects could not be shared.

Earlier on Nov 15, the apex committee in a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of street crimes in Karachi and decided to launch a crackdown and targeted operation jointly by Police and Rangers against street criminals.

The meeting was attended by Director-General Rangers Major General Mohammad Saeed, Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Shahid Baig Mirza, IG Sindh AD Khowaja, ministers, bureaucrats and provincial heads of intelligence agencies.

Street crimes remained the most discussed item in the apex committee and discussed threadbare. CM Sindh expressed displeasure that heinous crimes have been controlled but street crimes pose a big challenge to law enforcement and there must be concrete strategy to control it.

It was pointed out that illegal migrants, who number around 2.5 million in the province and mostly live in Karachi, are involved in street crimes. Therefore, it was proposed to make street crimes as part of the apex committee’s domain to tackle with.

The chief minister approved the proposal and directed police and Rangers to start crackdown and targeted operations against street criminals.

He also constituted a committee under the Law Minister with AG Sindh and Home Secretary to call on Chief Justice Sindh High Court to dedicate certain courts for speedy trial of street criminals.

“My objective to take drastic measures is to create deterrence against street crimes,” said CM Sindh.